Vaygr War
The Vaygr War (115 AHL) was a major galactic conflict fought by the Hiigarans under Karan S'jet, the Vaygr under Makaan, the Bentusi, and various captured ships belonging to the Progenitors. During this conflict the Vaygr came dangerously close to capturing Hiigara, thereby ending the short-lived Hiigaran independence. However, through the Hiigarans’ acquisition of the Progenitor warship Sajuuk, and the death of Makaan, the war ended in the same year with a Hiigaran victory. Origin of the Vaygr War The roots of the Vaygr War are very deep indeed, going back all the way to a time before the rise of modern civilization. According to the doctrines of many religions there was, in the time before the First Time, the reign of the gods, led by Sajuuk, He Whose Hand Shapes What Is. During this time Sajuuk forged the Three Hyperspace Cores whose capability went far beyond that accomplished by any race since. In time he scattered the Cores, leaving them for his chosen one, the Sajuuk-Khar, to gather and return to him. Though these would seem to be little more than myth it has long been acknowledged that there was some truth in the story. During the First Time it is known that the Bentusi uncovered an artifact with the same qualities as those attributed to the Three, a hyperspace core with the ability to bring a ship over far greater distances far more quickly than any other core could. Known as a Far Jump core this was deemed by those who believed the myths to be the First Core and was quickly wired into the Bentusi flagship, known as Bentus. Many would envy the Bentusi’s power of Far Jump, which would be unchallenged for millennia and which would give them unparalleled power over all the other races. Eventually another of the Three was found however, by none other than the young Hiigaran Empire. Deemed the Second Core the Hiigarans kept their discovery a careful secret, plotting to use the Core against their enemies. Yet through their misuse of the Core the Hiigarans brought ruin upon themselves and were exiled from their homeworld. With them they took the Core, hiding it in the ruins of an ancient starship. It would be three millennia before they returned from exile, carrying the Core, unaware after thousands of years of forgotten history of the significance it held. With the Core they were able to retake their homeworld and establish themselves once again as a power in the Galaxy. The return of the Hiigarans was seen by many as a sign, a sign that the prophesized End Times were on the verge of occurring. Two Cores had been found believers reasoned, how long could it be before the Third Core was found? Even those unsure about the religious implications nodded in agreement after reading through newly discovered texts, supporting the existence of an ancient fallen empire that too had prophesized the End Times. What was perhaps most disturbing was the part of the prophecy that predicted that only the chosen people of Sajuuk, the Sajuuk-khar, would remain unchanged at the end. As scholars and theologians debated this the enemies of Hiigara rallied. The remnants of the Taiidan Empire whose fall had accompanied the rise of Hiigara bitterly plotted their revenge. Yet without their empire, now divided between the Taiidan Republic, Turanic Raiders, and Hiigara itself amongst others, these Imperialists could do little but scheme. Fortunately for them however they would find aid from a most unexpected ally. In the Vaygr Reaches the ancient Vaygr Crusades were now rallying for the first time under one leader, a man named Makaan. Calling himself and his race the Sajuuk-khar he proved a lethally adept strategist as well as a religious leader. Uniting together the forces of the Imperialists and the Vaygr he began his campaign through the heart of the galaxy, taking one world after another at a rate that sent a chill down the spines of Hiigara’s leaders for it could only mean one thing: he had found the prophesized Third Core. While the New Daiamid debated this sudden turn of events Makaan gathered his forces and expanded his empire and through conquest, threw chaos into the galaxy. He conquered most of the races of the Galactic Council, causing the ancient body to whither and die. He began to hunt the Bentusi themselves, for reasons unknown, until there was left but one of their ships: the Bentus itself with its Far Jump Core. Now in a panic Hiigara turned once again to Karan S'jet, the woman who had led them to Hiigara. Responding to their pleas for advice she said but one thing: another Mothership Fleet must be built with herself at its head. The Hiigarans must prepare for war, and do so quickly. Heeding her words the Hiigarans took the Second Core out of storage, bringing it to Tanis in the Great Wastelands where they began the construction of a new mothership: the Pride of Hiigara. The Vaygr Strike The Vaygr, of course, were not willing to simpy wait things out. Nor were the Hiigarans able to keep the construction of the Pride of Hiigara a complete secret. So it was that the Makaan, upon discovering the location of the Pride, immediately determined where he should strike: Tanis itself. It was in fact an ideal target, once discovered, due to its lack of defenses for security purposes. Exposed it was little more than a sentry post, only one where the Hiigaran Navy’s flagship happened to be docked. Just as the Mothership Fleet began testing its systems the Vaygr fleet came out of nowhere, catching the Tanis defenses completely offguard. Within minutes the Tanis defenses were broken and the Mothership Fleet, with little choice, abandoned the shipyard to its fate, retreating towards Hiigara for emergency deployment and to gather the remainder of its crew. Yet, Makaan had already anticipated this and even as the Pride of Hiigara jumped into orbit of Hiigara Vaygr warships had already begun their assault on Hiigara as well as on several other Hiigaran worlds. Desperately the Mothership Fleet protected the crew transports headed for the Pride of Hiigara, barely holding back the Vaygr attacks. Fortunately, out of nowhere, Captain Soban appeared with his frigate group and in the following minutes was able to force the Vaygr attacking the Fleet into a temporary retreat. Realizing that the siege could not be broken without more reinforcements Soban asked the Pride of Hiigara to leave the Hiigara System and rally the rest of the Hiigaran Navy on its own. Reluctantly the Mothership Fleet retreated once again, this time heading for the shipyard stationed at Sarum. Once again the Hiigarans discovered the Vaygr had outmanuevered them and upon arriving at Sarum found it under heavy fire from a Vaygr strike group. However, this time, with the Pride of Hiigara’s systems fully operational and the fleet better prepared for battle the Hiigarans were able to route the initial wave, giving the Naabal shipyard at Sarum the time it needed to repair its systems and to finish a carrier it had been constructing for the Fleet. With the new carrier at hand Karan S'jet immediately ordered the construction of more vessels to add to the fleet’s roster. They were given little time to do this however before more Vaygr forces arrived, this time intent on capturing rather than destroying the Shipyard. However, once again the Hiigarans were better prepared and in spite of the large waves of strike craft and frigates the Vaygr threw at the Mothership Fleet the Hiigarans were able to defend the Shipyard as well as themselves and the Vaygr attackers were either routed or destroyed. From afar the Bentusi had been watching and in a rare move revealed their sole remaining harbor ship to the Hiigarans for a short time. During this brief visit they revealed to the Hiigarans that they believed the prophecy of the End Times was indeed true and that in order to defeat the Vaygr threat Sajuuk Himself must be awakened, and the Three Cores gathered. To do this, the Bentusi advised seeking out the Oracle at Gehenna. There would the Hiigarans find the answers they sought. Heeding the Bentusi’s advice the Hiigarans departed from Sarum, heading for Gehenna where they hoped to find the Oracle before the Vaygr did. Assault on Gehenna Unfortunately, once again, Makaan was still a step ahead of the Hiigarans and had already begun a search for the Oracle. A heavy garrison protected the outskirts of Gehenna from enemy assault, allowing Vaygr exacavaton teams to do their work. However, Fleet Intelligence already had a detailed profile on the Vaygr base at Gehenna and were prepared to make an assault. Using their data on the system the Mothership Fleet made a jump near one of the hyperspace inhibitor stations, hoping to both destroy the inhibitors there as well as the Command Station, preventing them from warning the Vaygr at Gehenna’s centre of an attack. For once, the Hiigarans caught the Vaygr completely off guard and in the attack successfully obliterated the command station, leaving no survivors. This part done the Mothership Fleet went into the next phase, jumping directly to the heart of the Vaygr operations, where Fleet Intelligence determined there was the highest likelihood of the Oracle being located. They did so completely undetected and hiding within the dust clouds surrounding the area moved silently into position. When ready they launched their attack, providing a distraction as a marine team landed at the excavation site, seizing the Oracle and bringing it onboard the Pride of Hiigara. The Oracle theirs the Hiigarans made a jump away from Gehenna. As they did however the Hiigarans found themselves being redirected, the Oracle seizing control of the Mothership’s hyperdrive. Unaware of their direction Karan Sjet and the others had little choice but to let the Oracle steer them towards an unknown destination. Secrets of the Karos Graveyard Unexpectedly the Oracle brought the fleet to the Karos Graveyard, a location the first Mothership Fleet had passed through briefly during the Homeworld War. Apparently more ancient and far more important than had been first assumed the Hiigarans began to investigate the Graveyards. They were given little time to do so however when, out of the seemingly abandoned derelicts of ancient ships, swarms of automated corvettes of an unknown design began to attack the fleet. The Hiigarans attempted to defend themselves but found it a difficult task as more and more of these "movers" appeared, even as the Mothership continually jumped from one spot to another, the Oracle and Fleet Command both fighting for control over the hyperdrive. However, there did appear to be some significance to the jumps and as it winked in and out of existence the Pride of Hiigara began to move slowly closer towards a large derelict. Eventually the Mothership came to rest directly in front of the derelict. From it they not only were able to disable the attacking automatons but also determine the next step in their quest. The massive derelict was apparently but one small part of a larger ship destroyed 10,000 years earlier. This piece was the Karos Lighthouse but elsewhere was a more important piece, one the Lighthouse’s databanks pointed out the location of: the Foundry. There, an ancient Progenitor warship lay waiting, deactivated for millennia. According to the Lighthouse this was the Gatekeeper of Sajuuk, the key by which the way to Sajuuk would be opened. With this knowledge the Mothership Fleet followed the coordinatese indicated, making their way further into the Graveyards. However, their progress was halted due to radiation scattered throughout the debris, determined to be originating from several other Progenitor relics. Using reverse engineered movers to clear the debris the Hiigarans prepared to make their jump but were forced to stay briefly to defeat a Vaygr scouting party, searching either for the Hiigarans or the Gatekeeper themselves. Either way they could not be allowed to report the Mothership Fleet’s location and so the Hiigarans prepared for battle. To Fleet Intelligence’s dismay however it was discovered that the Vaygr vessels had, instead of removing the radioactive debris, used it as cover, deploying advanced energy shields as protection against the radiation. As such the Mothership Fleet was forced to play the defensive, at least for a while, as it waited for the movers to clear the area. However, unlike before the Mothership Fleet was now more than prepared to deal with a small scouting party and not only defended itself successfully but was able to, once the radiation was removed, assault the Vaygr carriers, utterly obliterating any chance of the Vaygr reporting back to Makaan. Recovering the Dreadnaught The path to the Foundry now clear the Hiigaran fleet progressed in that direction. Once at the hear of the Graveyards it began to scout out the location believed to be where the Dreadnaught was located. Upon investigation however it quickly became apparent that the Dreadnaught was not alone. Alongside it, guarding it, was a mysterious destroyer-class vessel of unparalleled firepower and armor strength. Like the movers, it activated automatically, immediately determining the Hiigarans to be intruders. Identifying itself as "the Keeper" it rapidly became the one thing standing between the Hiigarans and their prize. Using the Fleet as a whole to distract the Keeper, Fleet Command ordered the movers to begin salvaging operations on the Dreadnaught. As they did so however the Keeper began to wreak terrible casualties on the Hiigarans, jumping out whenever it was itself heavily damaged, returning moments later to return fire. In spite of this the movers managed to do their job, dragging the Dreadnaught from its berth towards the Mothership where a team of specialists took control and turned it against the Keeper. Unfortunately, unlike the movers, the Keeper was not swayed from its duty and continued its savage attack. Desperately Fleet Intelligence sent probes into the Graveyards, searching for any devices that might be able to defeat the Keeper. Locating a series of power relays missing their charges the Hiigarans discovered that when powered up all together these relays could disrupt the Keeper’s quantum wavefront, thereby preventing it from making a hyperspace jump. Seeing this as the only answer the Hiigarans again sacrificed vessels to distract the Keeper as they reassemble the relays. Upon activation, as expected, they held the Keeper in place as the Mothership Fleet made its getaway. Meanwhile, even as the Hiigarans recovered their Dreadnaught Makaan had found another, identical vessel, and with it now had the key to find Sajuuk, once again one step ahead of Karan. Hiigara Strikes Back With the Dreadnaught and its powerful weaponry theirs the Hiigarans determined now was the time to rally the fleet and assault the Vaygr’s homeground. Making a jump to the frontlines the Mothership Fleet led a counterattack as Hiigaran forces rallied to join them. It became quickly apparent however that the Hiigarans were not in fact ready for so bold a move and had overestimated their knowledge of the Dreadnaught’s capabilities. Only shortly after beginning the battle the Dreadnaught’s powerful Phased Cannon Array burned out in a spectacular explosion, leaving the vessel itself defenseless. The tables turned the Hiigarans were now forced on the defensive, worst of all in the middle of Vaygr territory, surrounded by enemies. Yet once again the bravery and valor of the Fleet pulled through and the Hiigarans managed to hold their own and then, in a surprise rally, resumed their attack, destroying the Vaygr Shipyard located at the battle. However, it did not become the victory they had envisioned and near the end of the battle Captain Soban, who had joined the Fleet for the battle, was overtaken by Vaygr forces and captured, taken with his captors as they retreated from the battlefield. Now faced with two dilemmas: the neutralization of the Dreadnaught as well as the capture of a war hero and key figure in the Hiigaran Navy the Mothership Fleet is forced to pursue the Vaygr as they make their way to the Vaygr base at Thaddis Sabbah. On their way however they are unexpectedly pulled out of hyperspace by a group of Keepers, the Keepers of Abassid, which have been apparently pursuing them since they left the Graveyards. Unexpectedly, the Bentusi came to their aid, not only repairing and reactivating the Dreadnaught but sacrificing themselves to that the Hiigarans could escape by putting their Far Jumper into overload. Shortly after the Hiigarans recovered the pieces of the First Core, fighting off Vaygr salvagers who had detected the destruction of the Harbor Ship. Reassembled in the heart of the Pride of Hiigara the First Core now added on to to the Mothership’s hyperspace capability, bringing the Hiigarans one step closer to fulfilling the prophecy. Now with nothing left in their way the Mothership Fleet jumped towards Thaddis Sabbah. There they encountered a massive Vaygr fleet awaiting them but were nonetheless able to plow through the Vaygr defenses, even after Makaan himself arrived to direct the battle. Makaan was forced into a retreat and Thaddis Sabbah taken, thereby allowing the Hiigarans to rescue Captain Soban. The Final Campaign Makaan realized now how close the Hiigarans were to discovering Sajuuk and knowing that such power would allow them to turn back his attack on Hiigara he departed immediately for Balcora, which he had now determined to be Sajuuk’s resting place. Unfortunately for Makaan, Soban had discovered this while in captivity and enlightened Fleet Intelligence as to the warlord’s plan as well as the location of the Balcora Gate, a Progenitor artifact that required a Dreadnaught such as the one in either Hiigara or Makaan’s possession to be opened. Following Makaan closely the Pride of Hiigara and the Mothership Fleet made it to Balcora Gate, preventing the Vaygr from destroying it so that none could follow their leader. Then, using their own Dreadnaught to open the Gate they made their departure for Balcora. There they found Makaan in wait, his main fleet gathered around an enormous warship, what appeared to be Sajuuk. Surprisingly, Makaan had again deceived them, allowing the Hiigarans to follow him so that he could destroy them and recover the First and Second Cores for himself. The Hiigarans surprised him though by proving his equal and in the climax of the war the Hiigaran forces obliterated Makaan’s defenses, finally surrounding his own flagship and destroying it. As the vessel entered its death throes Makaan taunted his enemies, telling them that even if he was to die and never take Sajuuk as his own, the Hiigarans themselves would meet their end and that "dark clouds gathered over Hiigara." Unsure of what he meant but knowing they must return to Hiigara soon the Hiigarans gathered the Three Cores, uniting them within the hyperspace module of Sajuuk. Leaving the Pride of Hiigara behind the command staff transferred over to the new flagship and Karan activated the Trinity system, allowing her to jump directly from Balcora to Hiigara, in spite of the enormous gravitational well generated by Balcora’s three black holes. Upon arriving at Hiigara the Mothership Fleet immediately launched a counterattack. For some time Hiigaran defenders had continued to desperately fight the Vaygr forces in orbit, which continued to bombard Hiigara’s surface. However, with the added power of Sajuuk and the Dreadnaught the Vaygr forces were finally forced into a retreat as the combined Hiigaran fleet tore through enemy lines. However, Makaan’s last insurance against a Hiigaran victory had yet to be revealed. Out of nowhere, as the Hiigarans forced their enemies back, three immense megaships of an unknown design appeared. Stuffed full of atmospheric deprivation device such as the ones used at Kharak during the Homeworld War by the Taiidan Empire the megaships laid a final attack on Hiigara, killing millions with each strike. Desperate, Fleet Intelligence determined Sajuuk to be the only vessel capable of destroying the megaship and deployed it, using it to destroy each vessel, thereby saving Hiigara. Now with nothing left to gain but death the Vaygr forces retreated, leaving behind a shaken but still standing Hiigara. Shortly thereafter Hiigara would lead a campaign against the remaining Vaygr forces in Hiigaran space as well as elsewhere throughout the galaxy, ending the Vaygr’s dreams for an empire and bringing the Hiigarans into a new golden age. Resolution In activating the Three Cores within Sajuuk Karan S'jet had unintentionally unlocked an ancient system of navigation, a last gift from the Progenitors to the younger races. A network of hyperspace gates, all centred around a single, massive gate known as the Eye of Aarran. Allowing effortless travel throughout the galaxy the gate proved by far the most important of all the discoveries made by any race in the known history of the galaxy. With this under their control the Hiigarans were able not only to bring an end to Makaan’s empire but establish their complete dominion over all other worlds. The undisputed leader of the Hiigarans Karan S'jet took her rightful place as the Hiigarans’ leader and visionary, leading the galaxy into a new era. The End Times were over and the Hiigarans had survived. What followed now was the Age of S'jet. The age of peace. Sources * Homeworld 2 * Homeworld 2 Manual * History of Hiigara: Prelude to the End Times Category:Lore: Wars